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CHICAGO –

A Stockton family, on vacation in Chicago, had the scare of a lifetime after snapping a photo in the city’s tallest building.

Alejandro Garibay, his brother and two cousins were visiting the Willis Tower Skydeck, and took a photo from The Ledge, a class enclosure that looks down on Chicago.

When the four men stepped into one of the four enclosures, they say it felt like the glass cracked under their feet.

“So as we’re taking last-minute pictures, we’re sitting down on top of the deck. And maybe we were there for 30, 45 seconds, maybe a minute at most, and as we’re getting up to get out because they were soon to close, the deck just cracked beneath us,” Garibay told WGN.

Willis Tower officials say the glass didn’t crack, it was a protective coating on the glass that shattered.

“The Ledge was designed with a protective coating that completely covers all glass surfaces to protect against scratches,” spokesman Brian Rehme said in a statement. “This coating does not affect the structural integrity of The Ledge in any way. Occasionally, the coating will crack, as it is designed to in order to protect the surface of the glass.”

A family from Stockton had the scare of a lifetime when the glass below them appeared to crack.Courtesy: Garibay family